27 killed in Boko Haram attacks

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Gunmen from the Islamist group Boko Haram killed 27 villagers in two attacks in Nigeria's uneasy northeast this week, a government official said.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Gunmen from the Islamist group Boko Haram killed 27 villagers in two attacks in Nigeria's uneasy northeast this week, a government official said.

Violence continues to flare in the face of an army crackdown on the militants. Boko Haram wants to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria and has become the biggest security threat in Africa's second-largest economy and top oil exporter.

Six people were killed in a Wednesday night attack in Gamboru, a remote town close to the Cameroon border in Borno state, local government chairman Alhaji Modu Gana Sheriff said.

Sheriff said gunmen returned on Thursday night and killed 21 more civilians. A Borno military source said he thought the attacks were coordinated.

Authorities have cut Borno phone lines to try to disrupt Boko Haram's operations, which means it might take days for news of attacks to reach the state capital, Maiduguri.

Violence has intensified in the past two months as the Islamists fight back against a military operation that President Goodluck Jonathan ordered in May to try to crush their 4-year-old rebellion.